Every financial year, thousands of Australian small businesses leave money on the table by overlooking legitimate tax deductions. Whether you’re a sole trader or running a growing company, understanding what you can claim is one of the simplest ways to improve your bottom line.
1. Home Office Expenses
If you work from home — even part-time — you may be entitled to claim a portion of your electricity, internet, phone, and depreciation on office furniture. The ATO offers two methods: the fixed-rate method (67 cents per hour from 1 July 2023) or the actual cost method, which requires detailed records but often yields a higher deduction.
Alpine tip: Keep a simple logbook of your work-from-home hours for a four-week representative period each year. This alone can unlock hundreds of dollars in deductions.
2. Instant Asset Write-Off
The instant asset write-off allows eligible businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of assets used for business purposes. For the 2025–26 financial year, the threshold sits at $20,000 per asset for businesses with an aggregated turnover under $10 million.
Think laptops, tools, vehicles, software licences, and even office fit-outs. If the asset is used partly for personal use, you can still claim the business-use portion.
3. Motor Vehicle Expenses
If you use your car for business — visiting clients, picking up supplies, or travelling between work locations — you can claim a deduction. The two methods are the cents-per-kilometre method (up to 5,000 km at 85 cents/km) or the logbook method, which captures the actual proportion of business use over a 12-week period.
Alpine tip: The logbook method almost always results in a larger claim, especially for businesses with heavy travel schedules. We help clients set these up digitally using Xero and automated mileage tracking.
4. Superannuation Contributions
If you’re a sole trader or partner, personal super contributions are tax-deductible up to the concessional contributions cap ($30,000 in 2025–26). This is a powerful strategy for reducing your taxable income while building retirement savings simultaneously.
Many business owners don’t realise they can claim these contributions until it’s too late — the notice of intent to claim must be lodged with your super fund before your tax return is filed.
5. Professional Development and Training
Courses, workshops, conferences, and subscriptions directly related to your current business are fully deductible. This includes accounting software subscriptions, industry memberships, and even this kind of educational content if it helps you manage your business finances better.
The bottom line: These five deductions alone can save a typical small business anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000 per year. The key is keeping accurate records and working with an adviser who knows where to look.
At Alpine Accounts, we keep the records that make these claims provable: clean books, digital logbooks and receipts captured as you go. We work through EOFY alongside you and your agent so nothing gets missed. Book a free consultation and let us get your record keeping sorted.
Sources and further reading
Thresholds and rates change between financial years. These figures are current as at March 2026, and the primary sources are worth checking before you rely on them:
